Sunday, September 21, 2014

Just before the Chinese President visited Mongolia, Chinese social media was busy spreading an article posted on August 6th at the website http://www.xilu.com/ , so called "China's first military portal." As some of you might have guessed it, it deals with Mongolia. ( Click here for the Chinese link if you can read Chinese and here for translation into Mongolian if you know Mongolian. )
Before I comment on this ridiculous article with some phony claims, I should repeat, as I do always, that this kind of behavior and attitude towards the Mongol nation and Mongolia as a whole, seemingly ignored and tolerated by the Chinese government, is one of the main reason why we Mongols cannot get along with the Chinese. This shameless lie and distortion of the history went so far that the majority of the Chinese people , young and old, home and abroad, believe this propaganda and thus behave "accordingly." Let me quote some parts from this article and correct it for those who are not familiar with the history of these two nations or those who might be confused or brainwashed by Chinese propaganda similar to this.

In part 1, it begins with a pity statement that Mongolia is having a hard time and the "motherland" should help the "own part of flesh and bone" which was separated from its "home". It says, literally translated: "China and Mongolia were one family, connected through flesh and blood. History has ruthlessly divided us, brought us together and divided again as a result of our own causes and interests of foreign powers. And that is how Mongolia was put in a difficult situation where it cannot return to its homeland, left alienated outside of its home for a long time. Especially, by the end of the World War-2, Mongolia was ruthlessly cut off from its motherland and became an "independent state", as a condition for starting a war against the Japanese military. This was not just an incompetence of the motherland but also a disgrace. Can we as a multi-ethnic nation neglect this nation of some million people? No, absolutely not. Has this nation abandoned its own homeland? The answer is no."
Furthermore there were given 3 reasons which caused the "loss" of Mongolia : The strong national pride was ignored by the motherland, the policy of neighboring powers to expand their territories, and the weakness and incompetence of motherland. Part 1 ends with a question: Right and wrong has become a history, so why we cannot start it all over again and determine our future?
Here's my response. First of all, Mongols and Chinese are totally different nations with different cultures, lifestyle, languages and occupied own separate territories for thousands of years, as neighbors of course. The history tells us that we (Mongols and Chinese) were not always good neighbors. There were many clashes and wars between these two nations, occupying each other's territories , taking turns. One represented a sedentary lifestyle (the Chinese) while the other had a nomadic way of living (the Mongols). A donkey-rider versus horse-rider, so to speak. Or rice-eater vs meat-eater. So we were NOT a family, let alone relatives with "flesh and blood connection." Want a scientific proof? Here we go. My DNA tells me that I belong to Haplogroup C, or C3 to be exact. Chinese people belong to Haplogroup F.
A haplogroup is a group of similar haplotypes that share a common ancestor. (More on this pls read here Mongol gene ).

As for being "united" and "divided", the author of that article is just playing with words. From the ancient times on the steppe nomads were always a "pain in the ass" for the Chinese people who lived to the south of the Mongolian steppes and desert. The physical barrier they built at their northern border (to protect themselves from the attack by their northern neighbor-nomads) well-known as the Great Wall of China , now a tourist attraction and a UNESCO World Heritage site, couldn't be much of help later on when Mongols invaded China in 1271. Construction of this wall which marked the mutual border between the warring nations, started during the Qin dynasty (221 BC) and was later improved during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).
In 3rd century BC, nomadic tribes were united and established so called Hunnu empire (also spelled Xiongnu empire) which is considered as the first statehood of the nomads- the ancestors of the Mongols. The threat was enormous and it is no wonder why Chinese came up with the idea to build such a huge wall; probably they were desperate. All territories north of that wall belonged to the nomads, but today we see a totally different picture. So there is no "family re-union" or "separation" bullshit.

But instead if we are talking about invading each other or forcing the other to do something against their will, yes there were times that kind of things happened in our history. What country or nation didn't experience such troubles? There was times when Mongols invaded the whole China and ruled for almost a century (Yuan Empire, 1271-1368). Kublai khaan was the King. He was officially declared as the Great Khaan of the Mongol Empire which consisted of 4 Khanates one of which was that Yuan Empire (homeland Mongolia, whole China, Tibet, Korea) ruled by Kublai himself. One can say, Mongols created a united China which was divided before the invasion. (more on Mongolia's history see here )
Yes there were times when Mongolia was officially (de jure) considered as an autonomous region of China after the three-party agreement between Russia, Mongolia and China in 1915 (Treaty of Kyakhta). A weak Mongolia was forced to sign it under pressure and a plot organized by its two neighbors. Only after WW2, in 1945 Mongolia's neighbors (Russia and China) recognized its independence. So, that means Mongolia was "part" of China for 30 years (1915-1945) although Mongolian troops chased away Chinese soldiers out of the country already in 1921. And that means also that Mongolia was NOT "part of China" before 1915!

Now the Chinese would say, Mongolia was part of Qing dynasty known as Manchu dynasty (1644-1912) and that is why China as the successor of the Qing dynasty can claim Mongolia as its "own."
Well, first, Manchu people are not Chinese, therefore Manchu Empire is NOT Chinese, second, as one of the "slaves" suffered under Manchu rule, the Chinese have no right to claim "ownership" of Mongolia. Maybe Chinese have hurt more than Mongols did under Manchu rule. It was the Manchu people who invaded Mongolia piece by piece using the internal feud among major Mongol khanates. The Chinese didn't do it. Ironically and tragically, it was the Mongol kings who gave the Manchu armies military assistance to invade China. What would you be called when you claim someone's work as your own? I would be a shameless A-hole! Even if... even if it were the Chinese who invaded Mongolia (not the Manchus), they should have no right to claim for others' territories.

Yeah yeah.. The Qing empire was based in China and Manchus were later assimilated to Chinese culture and adopted Chinese way to administer and run the government. But in the end it was a foreign occupation anyway, under which the Chinese population much suffered and eventually it led to a revolt and finally the foreign ruler was overthrown in 1911. As much as the Chinese want to make and believe Qing empire as their "own", it is not. It was a foreign rule under which not only Chinese people suffered, but also Mongols, Koreans and Tibetans.
In contrary, we Mongols should claim for the lost part of our territory, called Inner Mongolia from the Manchu era, which belongs now to China. Inner Mongolia or aka Southern Mongolia is the southern part of then-Mongolia and it was the first land invaded by the Manchus who later occupied the rest of Mongolia after some years, wisely profiting from the struggle for power among the Mongolian kings and using them against each other. Mongolian warriors fought against each other, killing themselves for nothing because of some stupid khaans.

China is NOT my motherland and never was, and Chinese is not the language I speak. My mother tongue is Mongolian. If the Chinese insult us and keep publishing such a propaganda, we Mongols shall not consider them as a friendly neighbor and respect them. Forget about being partners and even friends. Let me repeat: Respect for respect, and insult for insult. Make your choice.

p.s. The article discussed here was a long one so I didn't follow or quote , and responded to every offensive remarks about Mongolia's history, or current situation, or threats. The main idea of that article was that we have no choice but to follow what Russia and China tell us, and forget about others (US, EU, Japan) because they are the "bad guys." The author threatened us that if we don't follow their steps we would be ruined, and maybe Russia will allow China to take Mongolia back! What a big mouth!
Anyways, I am writing this so that the world gets a real picture about what is going on between Mongolia and China, and especially what their people talk and think respectively.

In an article posted on a Russian website tells about the Chinese migration to Russia. The author says, there are two nations on earth who think that they are different (better) than the others; others being the ones of lower "class." The one is the Jew who publicize openly that they are the better race, and the other one is the Chinese who thinks everyone else is a barbarian. (read in Russian here )
It is not that difficult to understand that racism alone does not cause hatred. People's attitude to one another and behavior is the main reason why people dislike each other. And how far we can go like this? Till the earth vanishes? Will China's President Xi Jinping still tolerate something totally contrary to what he said in Mongolia during his official visit? He said: - We should respect and trust each other, and we should be good neighbors.